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FIB - Scams 101 - Ye Olde Archives
Posted By: Scott
Wednesday, 10 November 2004, at 6:57 a.m.
I need some suggestions (not asking for legal advise!) ....
My wife is from New Zealand and has some dear friends who are retired (they live in New Zealand). These are some of the nicest people in the world. They were trying to help out a friends business by attempting to purchase an item that is mfg here in the US. These items are not your common everyday items (marine propulsion equipment), hard to locate, and not to mention, quite pricy. They found a mfg in Michigan, who agreed to ship the product as soon as they wired a 10% deposit. The deposit worked out to be about US$3,000 (NZ$4,300). They used funds from their retirement.
This was over a year ago. The product never was shipped, and finally after six months, they were able to get a hold (via telephone) of the owner. He agreed to refund their deposit withing 20 days via certified bank check. That was back in June of 2004. Since then, the company will not return their phone calls, respond to emails, nothing. The company is still operating, has a web site up, and advertises in several marine trade mags. The item was not purchased over eBay, or through a web site. They have a couple of emails sent back and forth, a copy of the wire transfer, and the rest was conducted over the telephone. I know they should have had everything in writing, but we are talking about a country that still has a lot of moral values, and "a man's word is gold." They thought they had their bases covered. And from looking at their web site, checking with BBB (clean), I WOULD have bought from them too! Nothing seemed dodgy.
I first thought about small claims court, but they are overseas, and would cost them dearly to fly over. Or can this be done from overseas?
I also thought of the BBB, and checked them out. I didn't find them listed in the BBB. I'm going to recommend that they file a complaint with the BBB (I can't because I'm "3rd party.")
Would it be feisable to hire a lawyer? I'm afraid the lawyer would cost them as much as the amount owed.
I operate a local small business, and I know of companies that will collect bad checks for you for a percentage of the over all amount. Is there such a thing for something like this?
Like I said, I'm not looking for legal advice. I'm just looking for ideas for avenues a approach or suggestions.
Scott
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